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A review by nadia
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
I don't think I've ever been so simultaneously chilled to the bone but also gripped by a book.
I'd heard of the name Ted Bundy, but I knew nothing of his horrific crimes. The Stranger Beside Me comes highly recommended by True Crime fans and I was intrigued by the fact that the author had a close friendship with Ted and was a crime reporter hired to document the investigations into his murders (before they knew who the killer was).
This is a terrifying, tense book that spans many decades. I appreciated the mix of storytelling, factual detail, and Ann Rule's own personal reflections as she grappled with her friendship to Bundy.
There are now a lot of addendums (since the book's original publication in 1980), which I liked, the latest one having been written in 2008. However, the structure was a bit off for someone coming into the case for the first time (we start with the 2008 addendum) and throughout the book I did get a little lost between all of the names and locations — which, to be honest, is incredibly sad, as that's not really Ann Rule's fault. It's more of a testament to just how broad and devastating Ted Bundy's reach was.
This is one of those stories that gets you thinking about how little you may really know about the friends and acquaintances around you. Is that a wise thing to even mull over? Not too sure about that. 😅
What I am sure about is that this book is incredible and it's going to be an extremely tall order for anything else in this genre to top it for me.
I'd heard of the name Ted Bundy, but I knew nothing of his horrific crimes. The Stranger Beside Me comes highly recommended by True Crime fans and I was intrigued by the fact that the author had a close friendship with Ted and was a crime reporter hired to document the investigations into his murders (before they knew who the killer was).
This is a terrifying, tense book that spans many decades. I appreciated the mix of storytelling, factual detail, and Ann Rule's own personal reflections as she grappled with her friendship to Bundy.
There are now a lot of addendums (since the book's original publication in 1980), which I liked, the latest one having been written in 2008. However, the structure was a bit off for someone coming into the case for the first time (we start with the 2008 addendum) and throughout the book I did get a little lost between all of the names and locations — which, to be honest, is incredibly sad, as that's not really Ann Rule's fault. It's more of a testament to just how broad and devastating Ted Bundy's reach was.
This is one of those stories that gets you thinking about how little you may really know about the friends and acquaintances around you. Is that a wise thing to even mull over? Not too sure about that. 😅
What I am sure about is that this book is incredible and it's going to be an extremely tall order for anything else in this genre to top it for me.